The Age of Sacrifice
by jacksmedullaoblongata
Summary: Hook comes to Storybrooke with Cora, and must choose between love and revenge. Meanwhile, Emma must also decide between the well being of Storybrooke, or true love for herself. A story of love, magic, and even some wit. More chapters to come.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Anchored

A fish-soaked dock, a couple of old sailors, and a foggy town was all Hook could see from his telescope. As the Jolly Roger pulled its way up to the dock, one thing and one thing only was on his mind:

Rumplestiltskin.

Hell hath no fury like a man who seeks vengeance. And Hook's vengeance smoldered and burned like a man at the stake. Since his beloved Milah's death and the loss of his hand, his days had been spent devising a plan for the demise of Rumplestiltskin. Here now, in Storybrooke, the deed would be done and vengeance would be his.

"Well, are you getting off or are you going to keep posing on that little tugboat of yours forever?"

Hook started. He had forgotten that, with the plan to kill Gold came the key piece along with it: Cora. He didn't quite trust her, but he could see her motives, and therefore he could stay one step ahead of her.

"Of course, darling. We don't have all day. Or, I should say, night." Killian stepped off his ship and sauntered down the dock, his hook shining silver in the eerie moonlight.

"Hey, mister! You gotta pay to keep your boat here!" The voice came from behind him, and he turned to face a pudgy old man with a weathered blue coat and galoshes. Cora raised her hand to no doubt blast the poor man to smithereens, but Hook stopped her. He felt a bit of pity for this man, and though he enjoyed evil deeds, did not want to see him killed.

"Wait, Cora." Killian stooped in front of the old man.

"What's this about paying?" Hook unsheathed his sword and started wiping it with a cloth.

"You—er—have to fill out a form to dock your boat. Otherwise I—uh—have to report you to the sheriff."

"The sheriff, eh? You see this hook I have on my hand? It's a nice, shiny hook, isn't it? Why don't you tell this _sheriff_ of yours that the day I pay for where I leave my ship is the day that my nice, shiny hook goes right through his heart." Hook smiled menacingly, his pale blue eyes mirroring that of a rough, storm-laden ocean.

"I—I still have to report you. Sheriff Swan won't like to hear about this." The old man tottered away, looking back every few seconds to see if these unwelcome guests to Storybrooke were following him. But Hook had a glazed look in his eyes.

_Swan._

Killian felt something in the pit of his stomach. No—it couldn't be her. And as the thought flew through his mind, he realized that it could—and definitely was her.

_Aw, hell._ He thought, as he realized that he had overseen one very complicated knot in his plan, and that was the existence of Emma Swan. Emma had come into his world just a few weeks ago, and with her glorious entrance almost immediately came her wounding betrayal in the giant's lair.

If he was going to do this, he was going to have to leave his feelings completely behind.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello, everyone! Just wanted to say thank you so much for the lovely reviews! This is my first fanfiction I've ever written, so thank you so much for reading it! Also, my apologies that it's taken so long to get Chapter 2 up! Chapter 3 will be up as well in about two days.**

Chapter 2: Discovery

Emma was fast asleep when she heard the knocking.

"Go away, it's not right for anyone to be up at this time of night." She grumbled, rolling over.

"Please, Miss Swan, you told me to tell you if anyone comes by the docks. There were two strangers—a man and a woman."

Emma sighed. Normally, she would be all for checking it out, but seeing as she was half-asleep, under warm covers, the image of the cold, windy docks wasn't the most appealing.

"Go on. This better be good."

"The man threatened to rip your heart out if you made him pay to dock his boat. I know it's the middle of the night, but it seemed too odd not to tell you." Emma realized the voice was Jacobs, the old man who made his living down by the docks selling fish and registering boats that came in. The latter of these two was merely a side job,

"Uh huh. Let him try." Emma was still disgruntled at being woken up in the middle of the night.

"Miss Swan, please, he sounded serious. He has this hook on his hand, and a razor sharp sword. And the woman—"

"A hook? What did he look like?" Emma was suddenly wide awake, hoping to god her instincts that had just kicked in weren't right.

"Black hair, blue eyes, fairly tall, and dressed as a pirate." Jacobs said. These newcomers in Storybrooke no doubt intrigued him, seeing as they were the first outsiders to the town in quite awhile.

_Shit._ It was Hook, alright. Seeing as she was the sheriff, Emma realized she was going to have to deal with him herself. She couldn't afford anyone getting hurt from Cora and Hook's sinister plans. Yet, something told her that this wasn't going to be as easy as she imagined. Memories flashed before her eyes, of the beanstalk, the prison, and the portal entrance. She knew she had been right in leaving Hook on top of the beanstalk, and yet every time she thought of that moment, the only thing that she saw was the pleading confusion and utter betrayal in Hook's eyes. And the ruthlessness as he walked away from the prison cell, leaving her, Snow, Aurora and Mulan for dead.

But Hook had proven he was on Cora's side, and Emma didn't doubt for a second that his intentions were pure evil. She had to go after him, and it wasn't going to be pretty.

But first, she needed sleep.

Emma woke up the next morning, groggy and tired. At first she thought the conversation she'd had with Jacobs the night before had been a dream, but the uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach convinced her that the conversation had taken place, and that Captain Hook was indeed in Storybrooke. She'd learned to trust her instincts years ago, and nowadays they rarely proved her wrong.

Of course, Hook was a whole other story. But she wasn't going to think about Hook and her history with him. She was the sheriff of Storybrooke, and no emotions were going to get in the way of doing her job, especially those born from the image of a tall, one handed man. With that resolve, she set off for the docks.

The docks were foggy, windy, and wet, the brown, moldy boards causing Emma to slip around as she searched. They were also devoid of Hook. Frustrated, Emma paced up and down the dock, wondering where the hell he could have possibly gone. After scouring the docks until her golden hair was a tangled mess and her jacket was soaked from the ocean spray, she kept looking; the school, the library, even Mr. Gold's pawn shop. But Hook was nowhere to be found. By then it was early afternoon, so Emma headed for the diner, hoping to ask customers if they had seen Hook, and possibly get a meal in at the same time.

The diner was nearly empty, so Emma took a bar stool.

"Just a roast beef sandwich, thanks. Granny, have you noticed anybody new come in here lately?" Emma had been at it all day, and she wanted to cut to the chase.

"Not to the diner, dear, but last night a young man came to the Bed and Breakfast looking for a room."

"And? Did you give him one?"

"Why yes, he's in room 12 if you must know. Is he a criminal?" Granny was always concerned about outsiders coming to Storybrooke.

"I wouldn't give it much thought, Granny. He'll be out of there soon enough."

"You didn't answer my question, Emma." Granny said quietly.

"I—probably. I'm checking it out." Suddenly, Emma wanted to get out of the diner.

"See you later, Granny." With that, Emma headed for the Bed and Breakfast.

Room 12 was at the end of the crooked hall, and as she stood in front of it, Emma abruptly had the feeling that she'd been to this particular room before. She quickly shook the feeling off, took a deep breath, and knocked on the door, completely unsure of what she would find. The door swung open, revealing the striking figure of Captain Hook.

"Hello, darling."


End file.
